[ecrea] Fully funded AHRC Collaborative PhD: Rhizome & London South Bank University

We would like to announce a f*ully funded AHRC Collaborative PhD 
studentship at London South Bank University in partnership with Rhizome.*

/Performativity and Preservation in the Archive of Online Born-Digital Art/

*The Centre for the Study of the Networked Image*, London South Bank 
University invites applications for an AHRC-funded Collaborative 
Doctoral Partnership with *Rhizome*, commencing in October 2016 for a 
period of up to three years (Full Time).

*The Project*

The research seeks to understand and potentially resolve problems 
closely associated with curating and archiving born-digital artworks, 
which are not single objects but assemblages that change and sometimes 
mutate over time, or lack clearly definable boundaries. The studentship 
offers the opportunity to develop a */practice-based doctoral research/* 
focused on Rhizome’s Artbase, which will establish new understandings of 
the relationship between the technical and cultural coding of software, 
and methods through which new works can be accessioned and made usable 
by an online audience.

Born-digital artworks are some of society's most vulnerable cultural 
materials, where obsolescence and loss of cultural history are perpetual 
risks. From interactive software-based art, to early hyptertext 
literature, these works ('born-digital' because they were created in 
digital form, rather than having been converted from print or analogue 
equivalents) are an important record of our cultural and aesthetic 
history as a digital society. Born-digital archives hold heterogeneous 
types of artworks that require a new terminological framework and 
registration methods.

Whilst there has been significant research exploring the transformation 
of physical objects into digital surrogates in museum digitisation 
projects, the problems of preserving and maintaining access to 
born-digital art, challenges many principles of preservation and 
curation originating in analogue culture. Born-digital artefacts still 
tend to be treated like objects ('content') independent of systems 
('platform') that handle them. This misunderstanding leads to the idea 
that the systems can be switched out and it is only the 'content' that 
needs to be curated, archived or preserved, turning a blind eye to what 
has been a key mode of production and expression in digital art: the 
design of systems and the negligibility of a separation of ‘content’ and 
‘form’.

The research therefore aims to develop perspectives on born-digital 
archives as a process of cultural and technical mediation. The relevance 
of theories that describe and analyse ephemeral or changing artworks, 
such as performance and dramaturgy and their emerging models will be 
considered. Furthermore it will develop a methodological overview of the 
curation of born-digital art in online archives, taking into account the 
specific dynamics between artwork, user and software environment.

The PhD project will take the form of an embedded, qualitative study, 
developed in partnership with Rhizome, in which the researcher will 
become part of the organisational culture of this world-class digital 
art institution. Fieldwork will involve the revision and development of 
art-historical criteria for the Rhizome ArtBase on top of which modes 
for the presentation, and in extension: institutional ownership, of 
born-digital art will be developed.

*The Partnership*

This Partnership offers a collaborative supervisory team, including Dr 
Annet Dekker and Professor Andrew Dewdney at London South Bank 
University and Rhizome’s Digital Conservator, Dragan Espenschied. The 
successful candidate will profit from the academic and practical 
resources of both partner institutions, becoming a full participant in 
the community of research students at The Centre for the Study of the 
Networked Image and embedded in the organisational culture of Rhizome.

The Centre for the Study of the Networked Image is part of London South 
Bank University and brings together a group of researchers who are 
seeking new knowledge and understanding of how network and computational 
culture has and is changing the production and reception of art and 
photography.http://www.centreforthestudyof.net

**Rhizome is both an 'online organisation' and an independent 
affiliate-in-residence of the New Museum, New York, where many of its 
public events are held. Through this programme, Rhizome is one of the 
only institutions internationally who are actively and significantly 
involved with the preservation of born-digital art on a hands-on level. 
The ArtBase serves as the bedrock of Rhizome's award-winning, 
research-based Digital Preservation program, led by renowned Digital 
Conservator, Dragan Espenschied. http://rhizome.org/

*Eligibility*

Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree and a Master’s 
qualification in a relevant discipline.

Studentships are open to residents of the United Kingdom or the European 
Union including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. Candidates must be 
‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK in order to be eligible for a ‘full’ 
award (fees plus stipend). EU nationals who are not ordinarily resident 
in the UK may be eligible for ‘fees-only’ awards. Non-EU students are 
not eligible. Eligibility is dependent upon satisfying AHRC academic and 
residency criteria: see Page 13 of the RCUK Training Grant Terms and 
Conditions 
<http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/termsconditionstraininggrants-pdf/>: 
http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/documents/termsconditionstraininggrants-pdf/

Prior curatorial or programming experience, demonstrated interest in 
current and past forms of digital art, and software design and is desirable.

*Value of Award*

The studentship funding is subject to final confirmation by the AHRC but 
will be fully funded for three years full-time (or five years part-time) 
and will begin in October 2016.
The award will include a full fee waiver 
capped at the value of the full-time Home/EU rate for M.Phil/PhD 
degrees, in addition to an annual stipend set at Research Council rates 
(currently £14,057 plus £2000 London weighting, paid quarterly; pro rata 
in the case of a part-time award)


In addition the AHRC provides an extra £550 per annum for Collaborative 
Doctoral Award students, and the student will be eligible to apply for 
funding from London South Bank University and Rhizome for certain other 
research-related expenses.

*Application Process*

All candidates must apply online to London South Bank University here: 
http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/how-to-apply

Please provide an additional covering letter indicating the scholarship 
you are applying for and your particular research interests in the field 
of the proposed doctorate.

The deadline for applications is *Monday 4th July 2016.* Interviews will 
be held in the week of July 25th.

*Informal Enquiries*

For an informal discussion about this scholarship please contact 
Professor Andrew Dewdney: (dewdnea /at/ lsbu.ac.uk) <mailto:(dewdnea /at/ lsbu.ac.uk)>

**

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